New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

This summer people are pulling bottle after bottle of Sauvignon Blanc out of the cooler door. This grape variety normally shows vegetal qualities that clash with unjust trends for fruity, oaky, creamy wines that taste more like candy. But in France there is a history of great dry Sauvignon Blanc that wine drinkers throw back with ease on sticky summer nights. It is the main grape in the treasured white Bordeaux, and in the Loire Valley, as Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé it is refreshing, with mineral, citrus, and green pepper aromas.

Most New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc comes from the Marlborough area on the South Island. This is the hot place for this sharp grape because it is not hot. The cooler climate means that the grapes take longer to ripen, but the intense sunshine ensures that the extra time on the vine is intensely scheduled with photosynthesis activity giving the grapes the juice they need to make wines with intense citrus and passionfruit flavors on a tangy acidic backbone. Like all SB there is a touch of green bell pepper that makes the wines taste complex, but masked are the gooseberry flavors. This is also otherwise known to wine tasters as cat pee, which is not a bad smell in the wine glass, trust me!

These are fun wines that are so aromatic that you don’t want to gulp them, you want to drink in the smell. Some mid-range producers that I have tried and loved are The Crossings, Kim Crawford, Tohu, and Shepard’s Ridge, just to name a few. But the other really consumer-friendly thing about theses powerful wines is that they are so consistent in quality that you don’t always need to know the producer. Just close your eyes and pick one, or since they are very affordable, pick two from different price ranges, and then let the sunshine and tropical fruits go to your head.